Sometimes it takes a little time, a little luck, some good timing and having some supportive friends in key places for a band to break out from the pack and start to make a little noise on a grander scale.
Such is the case for Virginia’s Red Reign, a quartet of talented veteran rock musicians from the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States’ eastern seaboard, who released their self-titled EP in December through various digital downloads and in physical copy form.
Comprised of co-founders Sammy Lee (drums) and vocalist/guitarist Carlton ‘Bubba’ McMichael, along with bassist Larry Moore and lead guitarist Stevie Shred, the band has been a fixture on the Richmond, VA scene since forming in late 2012. But the band is comprised of long-time members of the region’s music community – all of whom dreamed of the day when their original music would garner them some acclaim, attention, and bring their career to a whole new level.
So far so good, as based on the buzz created by their debut single Not That Way, including frequent regional airplay as well as a lot of love from the popular internet radio show The Classic Metal Show, Red Reign have grasped a little of the most precious commodity in the music business – momentum.
For their debut, the band was fortunate enough to work with Grammy-nominated producer David Ivory, best known for his work with Halestorm, Roots and Slivertide.
“When you first hear of the credentials of someone like David Ivory you think, ‘man, I am just some drummer from Richmond, Virginia, and here I am working with this amazing, Grammy-nominated producer. Are you kidding me?’ He’s worked with so many great bands, successful bands and he really knows what he’s doing. At first you’re a little intimidated and worried that he’s going to take everything we’ve done and change it all. You know when you put a song out there you feel like it’s your blood and soul and you don’t want anybody to mess with it,” said Lee.
“But I tell you, he was absolutely wonderful. First of all, there was no attitude, no ‘hey man, it’s my way or the highway.’ He told us he thought the songs were good but that they weren’t arranged all that well, so he set to helping us re-arrange them, chop them, add this or that. So he took the songs and just made them more streamlined. We didn’t change the form or feeling of the song, and they were still as heavy as we rehearsed them. We just added some parts and subtracted some parts and it was wonderful. The final product was so much better than we could have hoped. David was just great to work with; I have learned so much in the time frame of working with him than in all the other years that I have been playing music.”
The music on the Red Reign EP is a blend of the best of 1980s hard rock and melodic metal with an updated, 21st century vibe, which comes naturally to the four members of the band, as they’re all experienced performers.
“Bubba started out as a guitar player and he is actually a phenomenal guitar player. He was like Eddie Van Halen at the time in terms of being really serious about his instrument and a real shredder. But as a singer he actually has a lot of different influences and they’re not all hard rock. For me, it’s Van Halen. I am a monster David Lee Roth fan. Now, I am not as good a drummer as Alex Van Halen but I want to bring that same boomy double-bass sound that he has,” Lee said.
“Larry our bass player has been with us pretty much from the beginning of the band. He was the original bass player for a band called White Heat based in Richmond, and White Heat later changed its name to Firehouse. And he is just a solid bass player and technically very sound. His big influence is Rush and he also likes bands like Queensryche, so he brings a little bit of a progressive element into the band. We added another guitar player just over a year ago, in time to work on the album. Stevie Shred came to us from a very popular cover band and did a lot of touring around the Mid-Atlantic States. And his style is very much like George Lynch of Dokken. So when you put it all together, it’s an 1980s mix with our own flair – with melody being the most important thing.”
Lee and McMichael have known each other since the late 1980s and have bene playing in bands together since the late 1990s with Red Reign being formed in 2012 from the ashes of another regionally popular band.
“We were in a band that had some success in the Virginia area. We did some big shows and we put out a four-song EP and it got us on the radar of Chris and Neeley from The Classic Metal Show. I am now good friends with both of them, and Neeley in particular has been a big booster of my band, and jumped on board with Red Reign and has been a big help in getting this music heard outside of our area and our own fans,” he said.
“But getting back to Bubba, I first met him in 1987 when we were auditioning guitar players for the band I was in at the time. He doesn’t remember this, but we now talk about it all the time, he came into the rehearsal room and he was so quiet and introverted. We were interviewing him and asking him questions and he was mostly just sitting there playing his guitar and not really talking. And I was like, ‘ah, this guy’s an idiot.’ We didn’t bring him in, but we hooked up again a couple years later and he’s a wonderful guy, a great singer and musician and he and I are very close now.”
Much of the songwriting is done by McMichael and Moore, in close collaboration with Shred. The tunes on the Red Reign EP were designed to evoke memories of the halcyon 1980s rockin’ good times, without sounding dated or contrived. The success of Not That Way proves that contemporary rock audiences are crying out for a little bit of what Lee calls “good old American melodic hard rock music.”
“When we started we were a three piece with just myself, Larry and Bubba and I remember we were sitting in Bubba’s basement, where we did most of our jamming at the time and I heard their demo for that song and then we played it together and it was like, ‘this song is so good, so radio friendly, it’s going to be a hit.’ And those guys never believed me. But I could just tell. It had the hooks, it had a great arrangement, I just knew people would love it. And it’s because of that song, once it was released that we got out publicist and how we got the attention of The Classic Metal Show and how David Ivory was convinced to work with us. Honestly, it’s the really why I am sitting here talking to you or doing any media interviews,” he said.
“Then we’ve got the song Toxic which is a little heavier and is really double-bass driven. Yes it’s heavier, but it’s still melodic. The song Chains is kind of like a slower paced, low-driving song almost like Grunge and it’s my favourite song on the EP because, as the drummer, it really features that powerful, heavy rhythm that I love. And we also have What is Love For?, which is our love ballad, so we really do have something for everybody if you like good rock music.
“And listen, we have had some people say that we’re stuck in the 1980s. Well I am not; I like rock from all eras, but good music is good music. That’s like telling someone who is a Beatles fan that they’re stuck in the 1960s. A good song is a good song. And when you perform your original material, the audiences know if you’re real and authentic – they can tell by how much fun you’re having and how much energy you’re putting into the songs. We’re so excited about this EP and our new songs, and I know the audiences feed off of that and can sense it.”
Lee said he and his bandmates hope to get out on the road later this spring and summer, perhaps tagging on with a bigger name act for some dates. In the interim, he said they’re going to keep plugging away through the press, through social media, through live shows, in anticipation of even bigger things to come.
For more information on the band, and to order the EP, visit www.redreignband.com or on Facebook.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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